Grant County

Director of Equalization

The Grant County Director of Equalization Office is responsible for discovering, listing, and valuing all real property within the county. Each year, all real property is reviewed and assessed at its full and true market value. This ensures the property tax burden is distributed fairly across property owners. There are two main types of property in the county:

• Non-Agricultural (Non-Ag): Includes all homes and commercial buildings.
• Agricultural (Ag): Includes land and farm buildings on parcels of 20 or more acres primarily used for agricultural purposes.

The office maintains property cards for nearly 10,000 parcels. These cards include ownership details, valuation data, and photos of any buildings. When property is sold and a deed is recorded with the Register of Deeds, the ownership is updated to ensure that assessment and tax notices are sent to the current owner.

Valuation of Property

Non-ag: Sales of non-ag property are reviewed each year according to individual areas and neighborhoods to determine that a fair and equitable value is placed on each parcel. New construction is evaluated using the Marshall & Swift Evaluation system to determine an individual value for the building.

Ag: Ag land is valued with a process that uses the Individual soil types of the parcel and a top grass and crop dollar amount that is provided to the Director of Equalization by the Department of Revenue. Each soil type has a different rating and is valued accordingly. Most parcels contain a variety of soil types.

After the assessed value is determined by the Director of Equalization, the information is passed along to the Auditor’s office where the current tax levies are applied and tax notices are printed. The Tax List and notices then go to the Treasurer for collection. The Director of Equalization office determines the market value of the property, not the tax amount.

Before the taxes can be calculated, the valuation must be “equalized”. The Department of Revenue provides the equalization factor for agriculture and non-agriculture property classes that the county must use. The equalization factor is then applied to the assessed value to adjust the assessed value to the taxable value on your tax notice.

Valuation Timeline & Appeal Process

The annual assessment date is November 1 of two years prior to the tax year. For example:

• Assessment Date: November 1, 2025
• Assessment Notice Mailed: March 2026
• Taxes Payable: 2027

The value listed on the assessment notice reflects the full market value of the property as if it were sold on the open market.

The Director evaluates all sales to make a determination if property classes are properly assessed. This method is used for all non agricultural land and all buildings.

Agricultural land is valued using the productivity method. The productivity method uses each parcel soil type multiplied by its individual rating which is multiplied by the number of acres of that soil type. The sum of the individual soil type values is used to calculate the agricultural land value for a particular property.

If a property owner disagrees with their assessment, they have the right to appeal. We encourage you to first call the Director of Equalization office with questions about the assessed value of your property as our team is a great resource to explain the situation you are questioning.

• Local Board of Equalization: Written appeal must be filed with the clerk of the Local Board on or before the Thursday preceding the third Monday in March. Residents who live outside of the town or township where the property is located would appeal directly to the County Board of Equalization.
• For the County Board of Equalization and Consolidated Board of Equalization appeals must be filed with the County Auditor on or before the first Tuesday in April.

Appeals are for the current assessment year and affect taxes payable the following year.